Green Bay Packers Made Slim 2.5 Favourite for Super Bowl 45
- By A.J. Ryder on January 24, 2011 18:25 GMT
After one of the highest-rated AFC Championships in decades, the Super Bowl is finally decided as Ben Roethlisberger’s Pittsburgh Steelers face off against upstart Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. The Pack seek their fourth Super Bowl title while the Steelers are staring down their seventh Lombardi trophy and their second in three seasons.
Pittsburgh’s season was turned upside down before it even kicked off when Ben Roethlisberger was suspended by the league. This handicap galvanized the Steelers, who opened the season well and saw Big Ben return with all the precision and grit that he has shown in past seasons. Having the league’s best defense has been the ace up Pittsburgh’s sleeve and their ability to run long time-eating drives on offence has made the difference in a number of fixtures against quality teams.
The betting lines have already been set for the 2011 Super Bowl and the Packers are trading at a odds-on price of 5/7 for the win while the Steelers can be backed at a 6/5 price. The point spread is minimal as Pittsburgh are given a mere 2.5 point advantage. Less than a field goal is expected to separate these sides.
Bookmakers are expecting a solid performance from each side with a total points over/under of 46.0. Both teams are expected to get three majors and, once again, it appears like a field goal will make all the difference.
Super Bowl XLV is priced at 9/1 to go to overtime.
Green Bay are favoured to score first and the bookies have them available at an 8/11 price to do so. Pittsburgh to open the scoring is priced at even money.
If the match goes according to plan for the Packers, punters can expect a lower-scoring affair where the black team attempt to win the match by taking a prominent first-half lead. Roethlisberger’s fitness could be an issue going into the big match and it will be interesting to see if Green Bay attempt to target him early on.
The Green Bay Packers will be looking for another explosive performance by Aaron Rodgers. If their talisman and John Kuhn both play to potential, then the Steelers trump card (their defense) could wind up being nullified.
